


Skeleton Keys

by Novathenovsss



Category: Swapfell (Alternate Universe), Underfell (alternate universe), Underswap (Alternate Universe), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universes, Later though cuz I don’t wanna spoil, Love From All Your Boi’s, Magic, Mild Language, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader knows to mind her own business, Slow Burn, Swapfell, Underfell, Warnings At The Beginning Of Chapter Though When Needed, everyone x reader - Freeform, reader has ptsd, underswap - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-02-08 11:57:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21475645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Novathenovsss/pseuds/Novathenovsss
Summary: Typical. The boys from some of our favorite universes’ are all in one place.Also typical. The reader ends up on their radar.See what happens when you, the reader, find yourself with a bunch of skeletons. How will you do with the boys, them with their own issues and “quirks” and you with your own baggage running hot on your tail?Let’s see the drama you and the boys stir up, the action happen, the emotions unravel and who knows what else.
Relationships: Papyrus (Swapfell)Reader, Papyrus (Underswap)/Reader, Papyrus (Undertale) & Reader, Papyrus (Undertale)/Reader, Papyrus (underfell)/reader, Reader/Everyone, Sans (Swapfell)/Reader, Sans (Underfell)/Reader, Sans (Underswap)/Reader, Sans (Undertale) & Reader, Sans (Undertale)/Reader
Comments: 34
Kudos: 219





	1. Muddy Toes

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Skeleton Keys! Better buckle up for this wild ride, it’ll be a good one. Oh, do I have a lot planed for you all. 
> 
> Any warnings will be before every chapter if it’s needed. Updates are... unknown. But going to happen! I just had the first chapter and really wanted to get it out there. 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the first chapter!

You know that saying? ‘Run like your life depends on it.’ Yeah, that one. That kept popping up in your head right now. 

Along with the terror of about to be eaten by wild wolves. 

A majestic howl rings out, echoing throughout the forest. In another situation, it would have been a beautiful sound that gave you shivers down your spine. But being so close to the source of the throaty howl brought you only fear. 

Your bare feet hit the damp ground with small ‘plaps’. You pump your arms back and forward as you run. Your muddy white gown (if it could even be called that) gets caught on a small branch, but it doesn’t slow you down in the slightest. It just rips off a small piece, being left behind as you continue running. The wolves pass by it, faster then you were going before. 

You jump over a fallen tree, landing hard on the ground, making mud splatter over your legs and the bottom of your dress. You don’t even feel the cold mud on you because you’re already running at full speed again. 

You dare take a glance back at your pursuers, your frizzed hair flinging around with your movements. As you get a peek at the charcoal gray wolf as it rounds a tree, your foot meets with air and then you’re

F  
A  
L  
L  
I  
N  
G

You tumble a few feet down, a scream coming from your dry lips. You had fallen down a small slope and into a opening in the trees. You scramble to face the top of the slope, your feet in front of you as you sit on your butt. You stare wide eyed, pupils tinny, shaking with your fear as the five huge wolves stand at the top of the slope. All of them watch you with hungry eyes, their teeth bared. You watch them, waiting for them to pounce and rip out your jugular. You could already see it, blood all over your pale dirty skin, you choking as blood fills your lungs and your eyes glaze over as you take your last breath. 

You take shaky breaths, the cold crisp air coming out of your mouth in clouds, swirling and curling around your face in wisps. You were so scared you could no longer feel the cold that was making your lips blue, or the damp moss you were sitting on that was soaking through your dress. Your matted hair falls over your face as you take in their forms.

They all had matted and patchy fur, with old, dried blood staining their coats. All their lips were bared in a snarl, showing their dark red gums and yellow teeth riddled with plaque. The one closest to the edge of the slope was a white wolf. He looked old, having many scars and missing his left eye. There was the charcoal wolf that you saw earlier. His fur looked the best out of them all, which wasn’t much better. There was a wolf that had fur as black as the night, with devilish yellow eyes. The one that you saw first when this whole chase started is the brown one. His coat was by far the worst, it looked so tangled and stained, it was balding all over too. And last was the one at the back, with light gray fur and the most expressive eyes on a animal you’ve ever seen, a deep forest green. 

You didn’t know what you were going to do. You couldn’t out run them, and you most certainly couldn’t [FIGHT] them. In this moment you knew you were going to die. Many times you’ve been close to death, but you knew that now was the time. 

And you were terrified. 

They seem to jump all at once off the slope and towards you. You bring your arms in front of your face in the form of an X, the shackle on your right hand jingling with your movements, you screw your eyes shut and grit your teeth, waiting for the pain to come. 

You wait and feel nothing. You do a mental scan of your body to make sure that you are, indeed ok. You open your eyes and let your arms down slowly. 

You look to see a wall of white pillars in between you and the wolves, keeping you safe. 

Huh.

Looks like you aren’t dying this time either. 

“SHOO! GET OUT OF HERE! SHOO, SHOO!” 

You flinch violently at the loud voice behind you, spinning your head around to get a look at the voice. Your eyes glaze over with fear when they lock onto the tall skeleton Monster. Your breath picks up and your hands clench the mud under you, bound to be getting dirt under your nails. 

The wolves snap their jaws and growl. You whip your head back to look at them, a stray strand of hair hitting your eye. Other than a mild flinch and watering from your eye, it goes ignored. 

The white one paces back in forth, like some of the animals you’ve seen cadged for villagers entertainment. The others growl and bark at you and the Monster. The one that was pacing eventually howls and runs off, the others following shortly after. The one with expressive eyes lags behind the others, staring at you, a look in it’s eyes. A promising look. 

A shiver slides down your spine, those green eyes burned into your memory as it runs off. 

Your breaths come out in pants as your adrenaline leaves you. You have half the mind to move some of the hair out of your eyes. You feel the cool mud that your smear over your cheek accidentally, but don’t care as you quickly remember the Monster behind you. 

You zip around to face him, trying to get to your feet but you slip in the mud and fall back to your knees. “ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” You’re quick to meet his gaze, taking in his appearance. 

He was tall, like most Monsters. His eye sockets were furrowed in what looked like concern, further down he had a blood red scarf around his neck. You gulp at the thought of blood. He had on what looked like a white chest plate with puffy sleeves. Then blue shorts and red boots. 

You ignore his question in favor of silence, somehow hopping that he’ll maybe just leave you be. 

“PAPYRUS! WHERE DID YOU GO?!” You suddenly hear another voice not too far off. “OVER HERE!” You flinch at his loudness and also start to panic, well more then you already were. It sounded like more were coming now. 

You shakily make it to your feet. Sorta. Your stance was wide and wobbly, one hand still buried in the mud with how low to the ground you were. You were on your last metaphorical leg after all. You’ve been on the run for the past four days, scrounging what you could and jumping from village to village. But you were tired, hungry, sore and cold. And now you were about to be killed by Monsters. 

Probably anyway. 

You see two other skeletons run out of the tree line into this tinny opening. There was a short one, well shorter. He looked short next to the other skeleton anyway. 

The short one had chubby cheeks somehow, some blue, probably magical lights in his sockets and a blue banana around his neck. A little further down was a gray shirt and some blue shorts, gloves and boots. 

The taller one on the other hand, was very different. He had a crack over left eye socket, red pin pricks of light in those hard sockets and a red scarf like the first Monster, only more worn and tattered. He had a black tank top on that was ripped and torn at the bottom, showing off his spine and the top of his pelvis. Then finally tight black jeans with a big buckle and shiny chains decorating his outfit here and there, red boots and gloves. 

But you didn’t know any of the names of their weird fashion. You had never seen anyone wear clothes like this. 

But you didn’t have time to dwell on it. 

You needed to figure out how to get out of this alive. 

“THERE YOU ARE! EXPLAIN WHY YOU RAN OFF SO UNEXPECTEDLY!” The scariest one demanded out to the first one, continuing to march over to him. The chubby cheeked one bounded over to the first Monster. “YES, DO TELL US- WHAT ARE YOU LOO- OH! HELLO!” You flinch when the chubby cheeked one notices you. The scariest one looks to you and your breath hitches. “WHAT THE HELL IS A HUMAN DOING THIS FAR IN THE FOREST?” You stay quiet, not caring if the question was meant for you or not. “I FOUND HER ABOUT TO BE EATEN BY WOLVES.” You were growing tired of loud voices. 

You weren’t sure as what to do. You might, maybe, possibly be able to at least fight off one Monster until a opening to escape is announced, but there’s three. There’s no way with three. You’ve never even fought a real Monster before. 

So you were going to try and play docile if you could. And ‘playing docile’ was apparently standing there, hopping that they’ll leave. 

“WHATEVER! LET’S GO BACK TO THE HOUSE!” The scarcest one tells the others. “BUT SHE NEEDS OUR HELP! SHE LOOKS COLD AND HURT,” the cubby cheeked one proclaims, looking at you, empathetic feelings deeply set in his face. But you didn’t notice, too scared to think of anything except the beating in your chest. 

The scariest one rolls his eyes. “WHO CARES? SHE’S NOT OUR PROBLEM.” You almost nod in agreement. “I THINK WE SHOULD TAKE HER WITH US, AT LEAST UNTIL WE KNOW SHE IS COMPLETELY ALRIGHT.” The first one pipes up. “I AGREE!” Chubby cheeks yells happily, bright stars in his sockets now. “AND MAJORITY OVERRULES!” He adds. 

The scariest one rolls his eye lights, crossing his arms over his chest. “WHATEVER.” 

The chubby cheeked one looks to you. “HELLO!” You flinch. “I AM THE MAGNIFICENT BLUEBERRY! BUT YOU CAN CALL ME BLUE IF YOU LIKE!” Alright, ‘chubby cheeked one’ is now ‘Blue’. But that didn’t matter, if things went well, you would escape soon. “AND I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! I HEARD YOUR SCREAM AND CAME TO YOUR RESCUE AS FAST AS I COULD, WHITCH WAS JUST IN TIME!” Your eyes flicker from ‘Papyrus’ to the scariest one as he scoffs. 

Blueberry jumps up in the air. “AND THIS IS EDGE!” “THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE EDGE, GET IT RIGHT. AND I DON’T NEED YOU TO INTRODUCE ME!” Edge cuts in angrily. They start to argue about how this isn’t the time, among other things you either didn’t care or didn’t understand. 

You then decide you’ve had enough and that now was your time. 

You jump up as fast as you can, trying to steady your wobbly legs and not slip in the mud. You run as fast as you can into the thick of the woods. You run, brush and small branches hitting you, bound to be leaving more bruises and scratches over your body. You squint in fear of getting your eye poked out by a branch, but you are still able to see a flash of dark purple before you’re lifted in the air. 

“Aaahh!” You scream out as you’re flung though the air. Everything in your vision is spinning and moving. Then you’re hanging in the air upside down. You wonder for a moment if your had your ankle caught in a snare but realize you’re being held up by nothing. 

Your body slowly starts to turn around and your eyes are met with yet another skeleton. This one had round cheeks like Blue, but dark violet eye lights. He had scratches over his left eye socket like Edge. He had a black chest plate with padded shoulders, black shorts and black high heeled boots, slim red gloves and a worn red bandanna. He made a motion with his hand and you moved closer to him, nose almost hitting nasal ridge. 

You held your breath as he stared deeply into your eyes. You hear the foot steps of the other skeletons coming over. “GOOD! YOU FOUND HER!” You recognize that as Papyrus’ voice, but you couldn’t take your eyes off the blank stare that was fixated on you. 

His eye lights flicker to your under garments, being exposed due to your dress falling around your chest since you were upside down. You squeak and grab the end of your dress (rags) and push it over yourself, turning red in the face. A big sinister smile spreads over his face. 

“I WANT TO KEEP IT.” 

You gulp. 

Blueberry cuts in. “YOU CAN’T JUST OWN HER!” The one that had you in front of him looks over behind you. “WHO SAYS?!” He looks back over to you and you can’t help but think you were in for it. You had heard Monsters had kept slaves, but were never sure if it was true. “SHE’LL BE MY PET.” 

Mayyyybe it was true. 

“BLACK, PUT HER DOWN!” You hear Blue yell helplessly at, you guess Black. “WHY SHOULD I?!” You could think of quite a few reasons. “BECAUSE IT IS RUDE TO HOLD SOMEONE IN YOUR MAGIC WITHOUT PERMISSION,” Papyrus answers. “AND SHE’S INDECENT LIKE THAT,” Edge adds, sounding uncomfortable, and maybe grossed out. 

Black growls. “FINE! FINE! YOU BABY BONES! BUT ONLY BECAUSE I’M TIRED OF HEARING YOU ALL GRIPE.” You’re suddenly dropped onto the hard ground. You grown as you try to sit up, but are promptly lifted to your feet by large hands. “ARE YOU ALRIGHT, HUMAN?” Papyrus was in front of you, bending down to your level. You gasp and stumble back, tipping over a fat root. 

Blue comes over. “OH! DO BE CARFUL, HUMAN!” You scramble back, your back hitting a tree, effectively stopping your flee. They both stand in front of you, looking worried. Black pushes in between them. “YOU IMBECILES! YOU’RE SCARING HER!” Your heart flutters around your chest like a caged bird as you watch them. 

Papyrus slaps his hands over his cheek bones. “OH NO! WE’RE SO SORRY HUMAN! WE DID NOT MEAN TO SCARE YOU!” Blue looks like he is about to cry. “YES, WE ARE SO SORRY!” You look back and forth between the three, confused. Black rolls the pin pricks of light in his eyes. 

“LET’S GO ALREADY! IT’S ALMOST TIME TO START PREPARING LUNCH.” You flinch and look over to Edge. You almost forgot about him. “YES, DUE GRAB HER AND LET’S GO,” Black says, walking off, waving his hand in a hurry up motion over his shoulder. Edge starts walking off along with black, only sparing you a eye roll, mumbling under his breath about democracy. 

Since they were walking away you give your focus back to the other skeletons. They’re both smiling friendly smiles. It throws you for a moment. “YOU CAN COME BACK TO OUR HOUSE IF YOU’D LIKE. YOU CAN EAT AND REST,” Papyrus offers and Blue pipes up. “YES! AND GET SOME BETTER CLOTHES AND A BATH!” Papyrus lightly hits blue on the arm scoldingly. “NOT THAT YOUR CLOTHES ARE BAD- JUST THAT- YOU, UHM.” His cheeks flush a light blue that seems to glow. 

You crack a tiny smile, one that they wouldn’t have been able to see if it weren’t for watching you so intently. You started to wonder if these were anything like the Monsters your Mother and Father hated so much. They were supposed to be demonic hell spawn sent by the Devil to devour people... But then again, your parents have definitely been wrong before...

You lick your lips nervously, hating how dry and cracked they were. You decide to take a chance, maybe a bad one, but you couldn’t stay out here forever. Your stomach churns and grumbles, almost urging you to take their offer. 

(You have the thought that you shouldn’t do this just to spite your parents, but tell yourself, no, that’s not why you’re doing this... Maybe in hope of proving them wrong... andmaybealittlespite).

You look at their hopeful faces and nod timidly. They both light up, talking too fast to understand. You shift in the dirt, not sure what to do. You look down at your bare, muddy toes, a little less scared and a little more bashful. 

Suddenly there’s a large, red gloved hand in front of your face. You jump slightly, looking up to the owner quickly. Papyrus was looking at you expectedly, a bouncing Blue clinging to his other arm, those stars back in his sockets. 

You glance back and forth from his face to his hand, your lips pressed into a thin line. After a moment of this you stand on your own, showing your muddy hands as an excuse. Papyrus straightens up. “OH! OF COURSE. WELL, ANYWAY. LET’S GO!” 

They lead you in the same direction that Edge and Black went in, talking excitedly about things you could all do together. They would often try to include you in the conversation, but you stayed mute, only giving nods and nervous smiles when you thought necessary. Your mind wondered most of the time, attention caught when they said weird things. Like “watching movies”, you didn’t understand that. You knew some people watched other people fight for fun, sometimes animals. You hope that “movies” aren’t the word Monsters have for that. You always hated those. 

You heard “tocos” and “action figures”, “magazine” and “spaghetti”, all sorts of nonsense things. It was like Monsters had a almost completely different language. 

As they talked though, your hope that your childhood beliefs of Monsters being nice grew. 

You could see Black and Edge ahead of you, not far, but you think they were listening. Though, they seem uninterested. You look past them and you see-

Whoa. That’s- that’s a really magnificent house. It was the biggest home you’ve ever seen. A huge wooden building, with many large windows. It had to have three whole floors. You’ve never even seen a building with three floors. It even had a fancy porch. Monsters must be rich. At least these ones. 

“-AND THIS IS IT! OUR HOME!” You jerk out of your thoughts to hear the tail end of a sentence. You nod, pretending that you were listening. 

You get closer to the house and Black and Edge walk around something on the porch, giving you view of another skeleton. This one wasn’t extremely tall, maybe as tall as blue, taller than you. He had a blue jacket, gym shorts and pink slippers. He had big black sockets with white pin pricks of light in them, and a strained smile. 

Suddenly you stopped walking. Not to your saying. You just stopped, your feet planting themselves heavily into the ground. You felt a heavy pressure in your chest, a tingling grazing over your skin and the taste of fresh snow on the tip of your tongue, you could faintly smell it too. A tad of greasy food was there with the snow, but you didn’t know what the taste was. But you did know what this was. 

It was magic. 

“uh, pap. come here away from the human.”


	2. Hot Water And Democracy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, here’s the second chapter. Enjoy getting clean, you needed it.

You didn’t like this. The pressure in your chest was making you panic, feel helpless. You wanted to run again, but you didn’t even try to fight against the magic holding you firmly in place. You knew better. 

You’ve never fought a Monster before, but you knew magic was powerful, and sometimes even unpredictable. 

So there you stood. Silent and powerless. You watched on with quite, shallow breaths. 

Edge didn’t wait to see what would happen, walking though the front door uncaringly, deciding to start lunch. Black on the other hand, turned to watch when he felt the crackle of Sans’ magic. Blue stood next to Papyrus, ringing his gloved phalanges. 

“SANS! WE MADE A NEW FRIEND,” Papyrus exclaims, hiding his nervousness. He knew his brother wasn’t going to be exactly ‘thrilled’ about them bringing home a human. 

Sans didn’t take his eye lights off the human. “uh-huh,” he says slowly. “and where did you guys find her?” “I SAVED HER FROM WOLVES IN THE WOODS!” Papyrus declares proudly. Sans looks you over. Dirty, weak, and scared. You didn’t look like a threat, but humans can be deceiving. 

Black rolls his eye lights. “STOP YOUR FRETTING! AS IF SHE COULD DO ANYTHING TO HURT US. SHE’S JUST A PUNY HUMAN.” Black looked over to your frightened face. Fear looked good on you. 

Sans huffs. “i’m just taking some precautions. did you guys think about why she has a broken shackle on her wrist?” Sans could feel you tense under his magic. “MAYBE WE SHOULD ASK HER,” Blue suggests. “YES!” Papyrus points a phalange to he sky. “THIS MAY JUST BE A MISUNDERSTANDING.” 

Black scoffs. “WHATEVER. YOU ALL ARGUE, I’M GOING TO MAKE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT. I REFUSE TO LET MY NEW PET EAT SOMETHING MADE BY ANYONE ELSE!” Blueberry stomps a foot on the ground. “THAT’S NOT FAIR!” Black walks into the house, not bothering to look back. “LIFE ISN’T FAIR!” 

Papyrus crossed his arms, a little huff escaping him. Blue and him both wanted to fix you their respective dishes. Papyrus shakes his head, returning his attention back to his brother. “SANS, PLEASE LET THE HUMAN OUT OF YOUR MAGIC.” He says calmly. Sans cringes in response. He was always bad at saying no to his little bro. 

The magic around you fades, leaving the smell of ozone in the air. Your shoulders slump and you let out a small breath, happy to have that pressure gone. 

“pap, maybe we should-“ Blueberry bounds over to you. “COME ALONG HUMAN! WE SHOULD GET YOU CLEANED UP.” You glance at your muddy self, slowly nodding. You walk behind Papyrus and Blue up the porch. 

You give Sans a wide birth, sticking close behind Blue. Sans gave you a death glare as you passed, his eye lights gone, leaving two dark pits that seemed to go on forever. And a menacing smile. 

You shiver and scurry behind blue, trying to get closer to him and further from Sans. 

They lead you into the house and your attention is quickly moved from your fear to how weird thIS HOUES IS! It looked so luxurious! And it seemed even bigger on the inside. It was so different from anything you’ve ever seen. Fancy and huge, and so clean! 

You look at the fancy interior as they lead you down a large hall. Since your eyes were everywhere EXCEPT where you were going, it wasn’t a huge surprise when you bumped into something. A small oof escapes you when you hit the sturdy figure. You step back and look up to the new skeleton. 

“thought i smelled sumthin’ sweet,” he growls out. 

He was taller than you, maybe by five inches. Sharp teeth adorned his smile, red eye lights in his sockets. You gulp. He had on a puffy black parka with yellow fur lining the hood. A red turtleneck was under that. Shorts like Sans’ but with yellow, you also noticed the yellow socks. 

You open your mouth but promptly close it again, not knowing what to say even if you could find your voice. You instead look around him for Papyrus or Blue. His large hand grasps a lock of your matted hair. “what’s yer name sweetheart?” He asks, then leans down to take a deep breath of the hair in between his phalanges, his eye sockets fluttering shut. You let out a sound in the back of your throat, in between a scared whine and a disgusted growl. 

If he were a human you probably would’ve pushed him away, but those sharp teeth so close to your face made you think twice. 

“RED! LEAVE THE HUMAN ALONE!” Red (you were learning way too many names way too fast) opens his eye sockets back up at the sound of a scolding Blueberry. Over Red’s shoulder you see Blue with his hands on his hips, a disapproving frown on his teeth. Red leans back away from you, letting your hair fall back into place. 

“back off baby blue. ‘m jus’ sayin’ hi,” he promptly gives you a sly wink. “I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!” Red rolls his eye lights, not turning to look behind him at Blue. “an’ i told ya i don’t care.”

They start to argue back and forth about this and that. You bring your hands up to your chest, starting to pick at your nails. 

This was really weird. You were in the (super fancy) house of a bunch of skeleton Monsters that less than an hour ago you were sure were bad. They acted just like people. Augured like people, walked like people, talked like people. (Even though their speech was a bit different than what you’ve heard). 

They didn’t climb on all fours over walls and ceilings, they didn’t chant demon spells, and you haven’t seen any beheaded children with their noses eaten off. 

You feel a hand on your shoulder suddenly and you jump, looking to the gloved hand of Papyrus. Even though there weren’t any beheaded noseless children you still backed away from him until he let his hand fall from your shoulder. 

He smiles apologetically. “THIS WAY,” he says in a softer voice than normal. Well what you knew to be normal for him. You follow him past Red and Blue as they continue to argue. With a quirk of your brow to yourself, you realize a lot of these skeleton’s names are colors. 

Papyrus opens a door and steps inside. You wait patiently outside for him, and in no time, he comes back out. “THE TOWELS ARE IN THE HIGH CUPBOARD. TAKE AS LONG AS YOU LIKE, THERE’S PLENTY OF HOT WATER.” You nod mutely. 

You glance into the room. It was a nice modern bathroom, dark golds and browns decorating the room. It was bright and shinny. 

“OH!” Papyrus suddenly shouts, making you jump and turn away from the room and to him, eyes wide. “LET ME GET THAT FOR YOU,” he offers, pointing to your wrist where your shackle lay. You look at the shackle before timidly offering your hand up to him. 

He encases your hand in his bigger ones. You feel a little warm tingle of magic rush around your wrist. It wasn’t suffocating and threatening like Sans’. More soft and warm, friendly. 

When he lets go of your hand, the shackle is broken in half. It falls into the palm of his hand with a soft clank. You bring your still tingling wrist back to you, trying to rub the rawness away. “Th...” You pause as Papyrus’ wide eye sockets lock onto you immediately. “Thank you.” You finish quieter, almost impossible to hear. Papyrus brightens nonetheless. “OF COURSE! IT’S WHAT FRIENDS DO! THEY HELP EACH OTHER!” He suddenly looks sheepish. “THAT IS, IF YOU WANT TO BE FRIENDS?” He asks, ringing his gloved pointer fingers. 

You hum, giving a slight nod, looking away. You hoped you weren’t getting yourself into something you couldn’t get out of. “OH GOODIE!” He starts to reach out to hug you, but promptly stops when you flinch, leaning away from him. Eyes wide, you look back and forth from his out stretched arms to his face. 

His smile falls, along with his arms. “RIGHT... MY APOLOGIES.” He straightens up, putting a fist over his mouth to clear his throat- wait. How dose he- whatever. “GO AHEAD AND SHOWER.” He then ushers you into the bathing courtiers. 

The door closes behind you and then you’re alone. 

“Friends?...” you let the word roll off your tongue, testing it out. “Friends.” You nod to yourself. 

Papyrus was smiling softly on the other side of the door, having heard you. 

You walk though the bathroom, looking on in awe. To normal standards, the bathroom was normal and modern, but to you it was something straight out of a Victorian princess’s fantasy. 

You turned towards the sink, and gasp when you get a glance of yourself in the mirror. You bring up two fingers to your face, tilting your head slightly you smear some of the mud. You sigh. You looked a lot worse than you thought, matted and untamed hair, mud and dried blood on your skin. 

There wasn’t that much blood, only noticeable if you were looking closely. You had scratches and small cuts up and down your body.

You turn away from the mirror with a frown. You didn’t want to look at yourself anymore.

You turn to the large porcelain shower. It was strange to you, having only taken baths. You look inside, it was normal for shower, but foreign to you. 

Eventually you figure out to turn the handles. You gasp when hot water comes out. You try looking around to see if there was a fire heating it up. This was all new to you. 

You look back to the door one final time before sliding the straps of your gown off, letting it slide down your form to finally pool at your feet. You step into the water, letting out a satisfied breath. The water immediately turns murky as it swirls down the drain. 

(You were kind of scared you were going to be sucked down there. You didn’t know any better!)

As you figured out how the shower worked and what to use (there were so many bottles of things you didn’t understand) the boys had their own things to deal with back downstairs. 

“so they just brought a human here?” Stretch asked Sans, moving the sucker in his mouth. Sans sighs, resting his head on his hand. “my first thoughts exactly.”

Stretch was standing in the doorway of the dinning room, watching Sans as he sat at the table, scull in hand. Black and Edge were still in the kitchen, Papyrus and Blue off looking for spare clothes. Pup was who knows where. As usual. 

“didjya see them?” “yeah.” “and?” Stretch presses, raising a bone brow. “they were small, looked pretty weak, scared.” Stretch hummed. “looked.” Sans rolls his eye lights. “i know. and i don’t trust it.” 

Clanking could be heard from the kitchen. “our brothers wanna keep her.” Stretch looks back over to Sans, deadpan. “that’s not a surprise.” His bone brows drawn together, thinking about what his brother’s lookalike said. “her?”

Before Sans can answer, Edge comes out, balancing plates on his arms. “YES, HER. NASTY LITTLE THING,” he says, looking sour as he places a plate in front of Sans. Sans nods in thanks, picking up a fork. Edge scoffs as he sets the other plates down. “COME GET YOUR FOOD!!” Edge then yells at the top of hie nonexistent lungs. 

Sans and Stretch both cringe. They may be used to loud voices, being the brothers of their bros, but Edge’s voice was shrill on top of loud. 

Shortly, footsteps could be heard. Blue and Papyrus walk into the dinning room, past Stretch to the table. 

Sans swallows-somehow. “so, where’s the human now bro?” Papyrus sits down in his normal seat. “SHE’S SHOWERING.” Blue sits in his chair, his brother following shortly after once he’s seated. 

Sans decided to go casual. “so, the human can leave when they get out.” Blueberry sets his fork down immediately. “WHAT? WHY DOSE SHE HAVE TO GO SO SOON?” Stretch pats his brother’s back. “she probably has a home to get back to bro.”

Blackberry comes in, hands on his hips. “TIC. AS IF. SHE WAS IN TERRIBLE CONDITION, NO SHOES OR ANYTHING. I HIGHLY DOUBT SHE HAS A HOME.” Sans and Stretch glare at him as he takes a seat. “you’re not helping,” Sans deadpans. Black tuns his nasal ridge up at him. “I’M NOT TRYING TO HELP.” 

“MUTT!!” Black calls out. Not even a second later- “yes, m’lord?” Not looking up, Black picks at his food. “SIT.” Without a word Pup sits himself down. 

“MAYBE SINCE SHE DOESN’T HAVE A HOME, SHE CAN STAY WITH US!” Papyrus exclaims. “whoa whoa now. we don’t even know if she doesn’t have a home.” Sans holds a hand up, as if to slow down his excited brother. Stretch nods. “‘e’s right. for all we know, she ‘as a house an’ family,” Stretch says around a mouthful. “PAPY!” Blue wines. “DON’T TALK WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL.” Stretch smiles lazily. “s’rry bro,” he says, still with his smug mouth full. Blue huffs, chewing his food angrily.

Pup didn’t bother paying any attention, instead eating his food quietly. He already knew about the human in the bathroom. He popped in as soon as he recognized the unfamiliar smell. He saw them from behind the curtain of the shower and would have stayed longer if he didn’t hear his brother call him. 

Red shuffles in, plopping into his seat. “so the human in the bathroom is our new sex slave, right?” He smiles wide, showing off his sharp teeth. Although some didn’t find him funny. Stretch snickers as Edge slaps his brother across the back of his scull. “DON’T BE INAPPROPRIATE! AND SHE’S NOT STAYING HERE!” Red sinks down into his chair, rubbing the back of his scull. “ok, jeez. ya don’t havta be so bitchy,” Red mumbles into the fur of his hood. “WHAT WAS THAT?” Edge asks sharply. “n-nothing boss,” Red stutters out, red sweat beading on his scull. “THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT.” 

“anywaaay,” Sans drawls, grabbing everyone’s attention. “she has to go home-“ “WHAT IF SHE DOESN’T HAVE A HOME?” Papyrus cuts in. “pap, it’s dangerous.” 

Food was starting to get cold at the table. More talking and silent listing than eating. The only ones actually eating were, Pup, Edge and Black. 

“WHAT IF SHE’S NOT DANGEROUS?” Blue asks. “humans are dangerous.” Stretch says, matter of factly. Blue crosses his arms. “NOT ALL HUMANS.” Stretch sighs. 

If these skeletons were anything, it was stubborn. All of them had thick sculls, and they all knew it. 

That’s why, after a moment of silence, Sans sighs ruffly. “fine, let’s vote. but,” Sans looks pointedly at Papyrus and Blueberry. “we talk to her before we make a final decision.” Sans knew Edge didn’t want her here, and he was hopeful that his counterparts were all smart enough to agree she’s dangerous. Then, the majority would be against her staying. 

“who votes that it’s out of the question that she stays?” 

Sans holds up a hand. “PAPPY!” Blue cries out when Stretch lazily holds up his hand. “sorry, bro.” Edge holds up his hand. “OBVIOUSLY IT’S OUT OF THE QUESTION,” he says, rolling his eye lights.

“and who votes she can stay if she needs a place?” Sans, Stretch and Edge put their hands down. Unsurprisingly, Papyrus and Blueberry’s hands shoot up immediately. Black puts his hand up. “OF COURSE I WANT MY PET TO STAY. SHE’S MINE NOW AFTER ALL. MUTT!” Pup’s hand goes up. Blue and Papyrus both start to argue that, no, she doesn’t belong to him. 

“SHUSH! OR YOU’LL LOSE TWO VOTES!” Black threatens, gesturing to himself and Pup. Blue and Papyrus quiet down, but it could be seen that the subject would be brought up again. 

“TRAITOR!” Edge yells at Red as his hand goes up. Red smiles lazily. “sorry boss, bu’ think s‘bout time sumthin’ otha’ then bones in this house.” Sans and Stretch sigh, knowing they lost. Edge screeches, angrily. “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU LET YOUR SEX DRIVE OVERPOWER YOUR VOICE OF REASON!” Edge picks up his empt plate and his brother’s still full one. “oi! i wasn’t done wit’ that!” “YOU ARE NOW!” Edge yells as he leaves into the kitchen. 

Well, that was it. You were staying. Some were happy about it, and others... not so much. So now, you’re staying with them, well.

If you agree, that is. 

What do you say (Y/n)? Think you can handle staying with this bunch of skeletons? Are you ready for the story to REALLY begin? Does it really matter what you say? Are you in control? 

Do you think you’re in control? Who do think is really in control? Is it anyone at all?

Are you alone?  
*[Yes] [No]

Really alone?  
*[Yes] [No]

Is someone w a t c h i n g?  
*[Yes] [No]

Is everything already planned out? And no matter what you say or do, your “fate” is already chosen?  
*[Yes] [No] [I don’t know]

If you screamed right now, would you be heard?   
*[Yes] [No]

Is someone watching?  
*[Yes] [No]

Are you alone?  
*[Yes] [No] [Please stop]

Do you know what’s happening?  
*[Yes] [No] [Stop]

Do you know the person behind you?  
*[Yes] [No]

Can you hear-

——-

[ Rebooting ] . . . 

. . .

. . .

[ Processing, please stand by ] . . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

[ Reboot complete ]

Please move forward with your story. 

. . .

. . .

. . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, interesting. Will you decide to stay? Why don’t you know modern anything? How will you deal with the boys in the next chapter? 
> 
> A r e y o u a l o n e ?
> 
> Ahem! See you next time!


	3. Rats Nest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one feels a bit weird, I had some different plans that just didn’t fit in with the final cut.
> 
> I love how confused you guys are, but I bet you’ll start to catch on in this one. Y’all are smart. But! Not everything is shown. There is much more to learn about the Reader, the skeletons and... more. 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Please excuse any inconveniences or glitching with your story in previous chapters, Reader. They will be dealt with the upmost speed and efficiency. For now, please ignore any glitches or typos you may encounter on your experience. 

Please keep in mind this is not real. All the characters are completely imaginary. No one is in danger, no one is watching you, and t h e y certainly aren’t behind you. Because they don’t exist. 

Don’t listen to anything that the gTliHtcEheYs say. 

Thank you for your time, Reader. Enjoy your s t o r y.

. . .

. . . 

. . .

You step out of the shower silently, letting out a shaky breath at the cold air nipping at your warm, wet skin. 

You’ve never felt so clean in your life! Sure, your hair was still horribly tangled, but at least it was clean. You loved the soap. It smelled sweet, like baked goods. It reminded you of mornings you would wake up early to smell the fresh baked goodies of Mrs. and Mister Torrits bakery in your home village. 

Sometimes, if you got there early enough on hunting days, when Mister Torrit was out, Mrs. Torrit would give you a free cookie. She couldn’t have kids, so she was always nice to the children of the village. Only when her husband wasn’t around though.

Your Mother and Father would’ve been so mad if they found out you were doing that. A small smile quirks at your lips at the thought that you got away with it. 

You get a fluffy towel from the high cupboard, having a little trouble reaching up that high. You wrap it around you, humming appreciatively at the soft fabric shielding you from the chilled air. 

You go over to the door, cracking it open to look out for a moment. You quickly notice the pile of folded clothes on the ground. Looking down the hallway, seeing no one there, you swiftly grab the clothes then retreat back into the bathroom. 

With the door closed, you run your fingers over the soft fabric. They were nice. This... was nice. 

You dry off and get dressed. 

You had a gray t-shirt and black sweat pants to start off with. The sweat pants were way to long for you, you had to roll the legs up to your ankles so they wouldn’t drag. You also figured out you could pull the draw strings to make it fit your waist better. Next you put on a cream sweater with white stars decorating it. It was big and soft, covering your hands, but, you liked it. Then, finally there were some white socks. 

You looked at yourself in the mirror. You smile, wrapping your arms around yourself in a hug. You felt a lot better, clean, warm, and clothed. 

Your gaze wonders to the door. You had to go out there eventually. So, taking a deep breath and finding the courage within your Soul, you place a sleeve covered hand on the door nob. 

The door opens with a creak. You look down the hall. No one was there. You step out into the hall quietly. You can hear voices down the hall, but it’s indistinguishable. 

You walk down the hall, the voices getting louder, quiet mumbles and loud talking getting closer. You follow the voices to a large dining room. Everyone was there, except Edge, including two new skeletons. A tall skeleton sitting next to Blue slouching into a orange sweatshirt. His white eye lights were on you as soon as you were in the room. Another skeleton, tall as well, and slouching. He had on a black parka with dusty orange fur lining the hood, a turtleneck the same color. You notice the black collar sitting on his neck. He had sharp fangs, one was golden. He was looking at you too, although not as vigilant as the other was. 

You stood there, feeling extremely small under all the gazes. You weren’t sure what to do. Say something? Like what? ‘Hey, thanks for not killing me. Nice to meet you all!’ No, that seems a bit silly now, doesn’t it? 

“HUMAN! THERE YOU ARE! ALLOW ME TO GO GET YOU A CHAIR!” Blueberry yells, excitedly getting up to do just so. You quickly move out of the way for him to pass you. You look back at everyone else, fidgeting with your fingers under the way too long sleeves. 

“SO, HOW WAS YOUR SHOWER, FRIEND?” You nod silently, feeling sheepish around so many at once. You weren’t as scared, but you weren’t too keen on the stares Sans and the orange hoodie one were giving you. 

Your attention is brought to Red as he purrs. “ya clean up nice, sweetheart,” he says, red eye lights boring into you. You nod curtly in thanks, not sure how to handle any of this. 

Black stands up, rolling his eye lights. “I’LL GO GET YOUR FOOD.” You perk up at that, eyes brightening as you watch him walk into the kitchen. Blue comes back in, holding a chair above his head. You watch as he sets it down next to his chair, also next to the tall fanged skeleton. He’s looking down at his plate as he eats, like none of this is happening. 

Blue sits down, patting the seat he just brought out. You snap out of whatever you were under, blinking, you scurry over to him. You sit down just as Edge comes in. He scoffs. “WE’RE LETTING HER SIT AT THE TABLE NOW? WHAT’S NEXT? THE COUCH?” He flops down, huffing and crossing his arms. You look down at your hands, resting in your lap. 

“EDGE, DON’T BE RUDE,” Papyrus defends you. “TICH. I DON’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING!” 

You hear a clatter in front of you. You jump, looking up to see a plate on the table in front of you. It’s burritos, but you don’t know that, your mouth still waters, even so. It had an interesting smell and looked hot. 

You hear Red’s ruff chuckle. You don’t care. You were hungry, you wanted to eat this already! You snatch up the strange food, lifting it up to your lips for a large bite-

“hope ya didn’t put any glass or sparkles in it,” Red says teasingly, making you pause. You look up wide eyed at him. Then to Black, then to Papyrus and Blue. Black scoffs. “I KNOW HUMANS CAN’T HAVE THOSE THINGS... NOWADAYS.” You hear some sniggers around the room. 

You look to Papyrus and Blueberry for help, they both smile, nodding for you to continue. You look back down at the food. If they wanted to kill you, they would’ve. Right? Why would they do it after giving you a shower by poisoning you? 

You take a bite. 

It’s indescribable. 

You’re so hungry you start to just scarf it down. 

You don’t notice the looks everyone gives you. Black looks proud, Edge is disgusted, the fanged one is watching you out of the corner of his eye socket with no emotion on his scull, and Sans is cringing. “how long has it been since you ate, kid?” Sans asks. Still chewing, you hold up three fingers. 

“three what? days?” The one with the orange hoodie asks. You nod, not taking your eyes off your food. So you don’t see the different looks everyone gives one another. Confusion, worry, and silent conversations. 

The food burns your mouth and throat, making your mind... drift for a moment. You try and keep your focus off the burning feeling and on the filling of your stomach. 

You eat silently, everyone kind of just... watching you. Some of them were still eating too, which made you feel a little less like the main focus. 

When you finally finish your food, you mildly regret eating so fast when your stomach gurgles and churns. Your mind is quickly taken off your bad decisions when Blue jumps up with your plate. “I’LL GET THAT FOR YOU!” He runs off into the kitchen, then, barely seconds later, he comes back in with a glass of water. 

With a huge smile, he hands you the water. You nod in thanks, making his smile even brighter, and sip on it. (You had gulped down water while in the shower so you weren’t as thirsty as you were hungry). 

“i think we should all have a little chat.” It didn’t sound like a suggestion. You take another sip of your water, like you could hide behind the clear glass. 

“to start off with, i’m sans. that’s papyrus,” he points to Papyrus as he gives a winning smile. “he’s my bro.” He points lazily to the orange hoodie one. “that’s stretch, him and blueberry are brothers.” Blue smiles widely at you, Stretch only giving you a lazy salute with two phalanges and a slow wink. He points to the fanged one next to you. “pup.” He points to Black. “blackberry. they’re bros too.” Pup glances at you silently, and Black leans back into his chair, arms crossed. “red and edge.” He nods to them. Red grins at you, giving a sly wink. Edge just huffs. “also brothers.” You look back to Sans. 

“we’re all cousins.”

You nod slowly. Big family. 

“(Y/n). I’m (Y/n).” Blueberry’s eye lights brighten. “THAT’S A LOVELY NAME!” You look down, sipping your water. “INDEED! VERY NICE!” Papyrus agrees. You weren’t sure how to handle their compliment. 

Sans clears his throat. “so, (y/n).” He pauses for you to look up at him. You wonder how he can make your name sound so detached. Like it wasn’t your name he was saying anymore. “how did you get this fancy bracelet?” He sets the broken shackle on the table with a clonk. Starting with the deep questions, huh? “I THOUGHT I THREW THAT AWAY.” Papyrus says, narrowing his eye sockets at his brother. Sans shrugs. 

“I was kidnaped.” You say simply. “lie.” Stretch drawls. You furrow your eye brows. He seemed so sure. Like it was a fact. “Alright. I’m a slave.” You were trying to test something. “lie.” He says again. You stare at him. “I’m 23 years old.” He looks confused for a moment. “still a lie.” Ok, he must have a truth potion. There’s no way of getting around that except for telling half truths. So you had to be smart. 

You sigh. “I’m a pickpocket.” You get different looks from around the table. Stretch stays quiet. So progress. “that’s it?” Sans asks suspiciously. You can’t lie. “They think I’m a Witch.” And you weren’t. But it was true that they thought that. You could tip-toe around the truth just fine. “uh-huh. and why do they think that?” It seems he wasn’t going to except small answers. Ok. You got this. 

You pull a wallet out of your pocket. “wha- hey! tha’s mine!” Red yells. “I was just borrowing it,” you say calmly. Ok, you sounded calm. You were kind of scared he might kill you. “HA! GUESS THAT PROVES THE PICKPOCKETING!” Black states. 

You take a coin out of the leather wallet and slide it over the table to Red. He snatches it up, grumbling as he shoves it into his pocket. 

You hold the coin up, then, with the flick of your wrist, it’s gone. 

Many wide eye sockets are on you. “YOU HAVE MAGIC!?” Blue yells. You almost giggle. “It’s just slight of hand.” You reach over by Blue’s scull, where his ear would be. Stretch stiffens. You move slowly. The coin reappears in your hand. 

“SO YOU DIDN’T USE MAGIC FOR THAT?!” Papyrus asks amazed. You nod. “Mhm. See?” You hold the coin out again, and show slowly how you move it in between your fingers, out of view so it looks like it’s gone. “WOWIE!” You smile. It was nice that someone liked your tricks. 

Sans looks over to Stretch. He gives a short nod. 

Sans looks directly at you. “why were you stealing?” You were hopping you could dazzle them with your trick so much they would forget about that. But, hope is for suckers. 

“I had to take care of myself when I was young, and I was good at stealing. I only stole what I absolutely had to though, and from people that could live on without what I took. It’s not an excuse, but it’s the truth.” You slide the coin back over to Red. He chuckles as he picks it up. “lemme guess. you stole from th’ rich an’ gave to th’ poor too, didn’cha?” 

You raise a eye brow. “Uh, no?” 

“you gonna steal from us?” Stretch asks. “again,” Red adds. This had to be the truth, so you would have to stick to your word. “No.” 

“gonna try and hurt us?” You raise an eye brow at Sans. “Like I could?” How were you going to hurt any of them? With them being strong Monsters and you being... you. 

“I TOLD YOU. THERE’S NOTHING SHE COULD DO TO US.” Sans waves a dismissive hand to Black. “just answer the question.” You grab your glass. “No.” You sip. “I don’t want to, but I’m willing to defend myself if need be.” 

Holyshitwhatareyoudoin?!

You were being very bold. This is not playing docile, (Y/n)! This is passive aggressive! You only have to tell half truths. 

But on the other hand, it should be known that you aren’t going to take anything laying down. 

Edge scoffs. “‘DEFEND’ YOURSELF. YOU COULDN’T DEFEND YOURSELF FROM A WHIMSUN, MUCH LESS ANY OF US.” 

You put your glass back down, crossing your arms. “I am very much capable of taking care of myself.” You state. And you were, just... maybe not against a bunch of boss Monsters. “YOU ARE-“ Edge starts, but Papyrus coughs. Your eyes slide to Papyrus, as do others’. 

“MAY WE STAY ON THE SUBJECT?” Edge huffs, murmuring to himself. You stay quiet. 

Blue catches your eyes with starry ones. “WOULD YOU LIKE TO STAY WITH US?!” You stare at him, eyes wide. Your mind blanks, as dose your face. “Uhm...”

Were they offering you a place to stay? For how long? Why? What would you have to do? Is this a trick? 

Maybe you should, y’know, ask some of those out loud. 

“n’less ya got to get home, of course.” Sans brings you out of your inner thoughts. “do you have a place to go to, kid?” 

Sans already knew you most likely didn’t. Not having any food for three days, having to steal things, the state you came here in, that shackle. He knew, but he wanted to hope. Wanted to hope that you would leave and they could all have one less thing to worry about. They knew near nothing about you. He didn’t want you to stay here, but majority overrules. 

He just hopes you leave. 

You blink. “No, I uh, I don’t.” Blue jumps up and Papyrus claps his hands together. You flinch. “THAT MEANS YOU CAN STAY WITH US!” Papyrus states happily. “only,” Sans stresses, side eyeing his brother. “if you wanna.” 

“Uhm.”

You had to think this though. You really didn’t have anywhere to go, not with your low (none) resources. You would have to travel far to make it to any villages that don’t hate your guts. You also should lay low for a while. The villagers must be looking for you at the moment. You’re so tired too. You’ve been running for a long while, you wanted a night of sleep.

But could you get that in the house of Monsters? 

You glance around at them. You have a feeling that Monsters aren’t as bad as everyone makes them out to be. And why should you believe the same people that are trying to kill you! You would just have to be cautious. 

“I suppose I could stay a few days.” 

Stretch and Sans seem sour. Pup is unaffected, like he already knew how everything would go. Blue and Papyrus are over the moon exited, already making plans of things to do with you. Edge is obviously displeased. Red is just smiling lazily. 

“WELL,” Black stands up. “NOW THAT THAT’S OVER WITH,” he looks to Pup. “MUTT.” In response Pup sits a tad bit straighter, dusty orange eye lights focused on his brother. “GO FIND A HAIRBRUSH. WE’RE GOING TO FIX THAT RAT NEST ON THE HUMAN’S HEAD, IT’S AN EYESORE.” He finishes distastefully. “yes, m’lord.” Then Pup disappears. 

You flinch away from the spot next to you where he just was. He was just there! Then he wasn’t! You’ve seen a lot of magic before, but that was beyond any magic you’ve even heard of. 

Maybe it was force magic? Or bending? Did he use a potion or was that straight from him?

You wave your hand in the space he just occupied. You could feel the leftover tingle of magic. Not a potion then. Well then, these Monsters may be more powerful then you originally thought. 

“What kind of magic was that?” You ask, to no one in particular, amazed. “the teleporting kind,” Sans answers simply. “Yes, but-“ Pup appears again in the same place. You jump back in your seat, surprised. 

He hands Black a hairbrush and you stare at him dumbly. He must feel your gaze because he sets his sights on you. His expression stays like a stone wall. “How did you do that?” He blinks. “magic.” Is all he says. 

You frown, almost pouting. You miss the slightest upward twitch in his teeth. 

“Well yeah, but-“ “LET’S GO FIX THAT HAIR, HUMAN. I CAN’T STAND LOOKING AT THAT MESS ANY LONGER.” Black interrupts. “B-but-“ You wanted to know what that was! The specifics of it! “NO BUTS.” You huff. What were you, a child? 

“I WANT TO BRUSH THE HUMAN’S HAIR!” 

“NO WAY!”

“Why don’t I brush my own hair?” 

“WHAT?!”

Oh boy. What did you get yourself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let’s hope they’re not too ruff on poor Reader’s hair. 
> 
> If you wanna know who the clothes belong to, the gray shirt was Blue’s, star sweater was Papyrus’ and Blue stole Stretch’s sweatpants, and Papyrus took Sans’ socks. 
> 
> I can just imagine Blue and Papyrus both wanting to contribute to giving Reader some clothes and also stealing from their brothers’ because they knew they were too lazy to care.


	4. Thin Ice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this will quell some of y’all’s curiosity.
> 
> Ok, enjoy.

After arguing over who was going to do your hair, you said you would feel most comfortable doing it yourself. Blackberry didn’t care. Tossing you the brush over his shoulder, he stomped out of the room, telling you that it better look presentable. 

Blue awwed with big sparkly eye lights, asking if you were sure you didn’t need help. Papyrus somewhat deflated, but was quick to say he would do it for you another time, if you were comfortable with it. 

So you sat on the couch, dragging the brush through your hair as Blue and Papyrus talked and went on about different things. It was nice, listening to them drone on about all sorts of things. And they seemed to feed of each other, when one couldn’t think of a new topic, the other would jump in. And they could match each others’ energy. 

You enjoyed untangling (ripping out) your hair on their couch as they talked. It was reassuring, that they could just go on. You were comfortable enough to talk as well now though. And they were happy to have you actually be apart of the conversation, even if you stuck to only a couple sentences every once in a while. 

“What is tv anyway?” You ask, not ready for the spontaneous excitement the both would show. 

“MOVIE MARATHON!” They both yelled, blue with stars in his eye sockets and Papyrus’ large and sparkling. “O-oh?” You ask, a little thrown by their immense excitement and confused on what they were talking about. 

“YES, HAVE YOU EVER HAD ONE?” Papyrus asks, tilting his head. “No. I’m not even sure what a movie is.” Papyrus slaps his hands over his cheeks in horror and blue gasps. 

“Am I suppose to have?” You question, a small red creeping up your cheeks. You hope it wasn’t that bad of a thing. 

“SO YOU’VE NEVER SEEN A NAPSTATON CLASSIC?” “OR A METTATON WORK?” 

“No? I don’t know of them.” They both look at you like you were a starved puppy. You wondered if these things are big parts of Monster culture. You fiddle with the sleeves covering your hands. 

They both jump up and you flinch, but a little less hard than the other times. “I’LL GET SOME POPCORN!” Blue volunteers. “I’LL LOOK THROUGH THE MOVIES!” Then they’re both off, Blue running to the kitchen and Papyrus going to the case with a black rectangle on top of it. 

You tilt your head down towards your lap, where your hands rested. You trace the calluses on your hands, briefly wondering how long it would take for them to go away. 

You hear the clanking of objects from Papyrus, but keep your head down. That’s how were always taught, you hated acting like a ‘perfect little lady’ but old habits die hard. Maybe it was a coping mechanism, going back to child behaviors in this new situation. New was scary. 

You were like this your first week or two with Mumswell. She was always insisting that you were free to act how you liked, as long as you didn’t act like a child. Because she swore up and down you wouldn’t find her babying you. And she did anyway. Fussing over dirt smudged on your cheek, licking her thumb and rubbing at it. Cooking meals and always asking if you wanted more. Teaching you so much of her wisdom, and tricks. 

You smile at the thought of how many times you almost burned down her cottage. (“Only two owl claws, dear.” “But imagine what three could do.” She would pat your head, saying you were as crazy as her when she was your age.) She was very motherly to you, probably why she wanted you to call her Mum, and of course, you couldn’t pass that up. 

Yes, Mumswell was very much a Mum. 

You suddenly hear the voices of other people, ones you didn’t recognize as any of the skeletons you’ve meet so far. Your eyes snap up to where they were coming from. 

The once black rectangle was now bursting with color and light. It was displaying two people talking to one another, a man and woman. 

“But Jarred! I’m in love with you!” “I’m sorry Stacy, but I can’t love you, not anymore.” “But Jarred!” “Goodbye Stacy.” “Jarred nooo!” 

You watch, wide eyed as the man walks away, a single tear falling down his cheek, and the woman falls to the ground weeping. Then, that blips out for a moment, but just for something else to come on. You weren’t sure what it was, but it was the menu screen for Papyrus’ favorite Mettaton movie. 

“What is that?” Papyrus looks back at you when you question, a small black rectangle in his hand. “WHAT? THE TELEVISION?” You stand, your curiosity moving you to the bright rectangle. “Is it magic?” Papyrus looks in between you and the ‘television’. “NO? IT’S ELECTRIC.” 

You let your finger tips graze over the bright picture. “What’s electric?” Papyrus hums, putting a hand on his chin. “WELL... SANS WOULD BE BETTER AT EXPLAINING THIS,” he mumbles. “IT IS A SCIENCE THING.” You look up at him, eye brow raised. “Science?” 

“YES, SCIENCE. DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT?” You shake your head. “OH. WELL. YOU WILL HAVE TO ASK MY BROTHER ABOUT IT. EVEN THOUGH I AM VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE ON MANY THINGS, SCIENCE IS MORE HIS STRONG SUIT.” 

You nod slowly, wanting to know now, but willing to wait until you could ask him, even though he somewhat frightens you. 

“I’VE GOT THE POPCORN!” Blue comes back in, a big bowl of a heavenly smelling thing inside. He plops it down on the coffee table, and sits on the couch, a bright smile on his face. 

Blueberry looks to the screen then promptly crosses his arms, your lips twitch at his cute pout. “WHY CAN’T WE WATCH A NAPSTATON MOVIE?” Papyrus strides over to sit on the opposite side of the couch of Blue. “WE CAN TAKE TURNS PICKING, IT IS A MARATHON AFTER ALL.” 

You slowly make your way over to the couch, sitting in between them, making sure to be equally far away from them both. You didn’t want to sit too close. 

Blue huffs. “ALRIGHT, BUT I PICK NEXT.” 

Papyrus pushes on the little rectangle in his hand and the television starts up, an explosion of sound and color. Sure, you’ve seen magic, but this was so different. You wonder if this was happening somewhere as you saw it. That was similar to an Our Eyes spell, but the ‘television’ didn’t let off any magic. 

Movement from the corner of your eye brings your attention to the hall leading to the bathroom you were in. 

You see Stretch leaning on the doorframe, hands in his hoodie pockets and a stick in his mouth. He stares directly at you, with boring eye lights that seem to glow ominously in the shadows of the doorway. 

‘A Monster hiding in the shadows‘, your mind whispers. 

You keep eye contact with him, the movie going on in the background, forgotten. You both make no movement, you don’t even clench your muscles like when you’re normally scared. It almost doesn’t feel like fear though, more like a laser focus on one another. 

He looks you up and down, as if assessing you. Like he can see though your skin and into your sins, your demons and everything you are and ever will be. But not like a friend knows your secrets, like a friend knows you, but like how the Devil knows you, how the Devil knows your secrets. A friend knowing from learning, from exchanging secrets, but the Devil knows because he can see your Soul, he can see your sins. And p u n i s h you for them.

‘The Devil is prowling amongst us, like a roaring lion! Sin crouching at your door and is hungry for blood. We must cleanse ourselves and this world! For the Devils walk amongst us, my children.’ 

Stretch’s eye lights go back to meet yours. He moves the stick to the other side of his mouth, then glances at his brother. You look at Blue from the corner of your eye too. He was watching the movie with rampant attention. You and Stretch look back at each other at the same time. 

You know. He knows you know. 

Don’t touch him.

He takes the stick out of his mouth, you notice a little orange circle on the end of it, then he turns and walks down the hall, further into the darkness until his figure disappears. 

You slowly let your eyes fall back to the television. You were half paying attention to the movie, watching but not to worried about following along with the story. 

It seems like you’re on thin ice with most of these skeletons. 

You sit and watch, falling in and out of your thoughts. Eventually, you let your back rest against the back of the couch. It’s then you realize how tired you really are. You’re clean, fed and comfortable. You’re still vigilant of your surroundings, but it’s been a while since you could sit and rest, without fear or hunger plaguing your mind. You weren’t going to fall asleep though. You didn’t trust the household enough for that yet. 

No, you had to stay vigilant. 

This ice. 

Though the dark hall and beyond a locked door, down cold concrete stairs and though yet another door, one of steal, the older skeletons of the house talk amongst themselves.

“i don’t trust her,” Stretch mumbled, laying on his back, upper body under the machine with a screwdriver. “tch,” Red rolls his eye lights. “ya don’t trust anybody.” Red was at the machine’s panel, keeping watch of any unwanted spikes. “and you trust her?” Stretch peeked out from under the machine to quirk a bone brow at him. “never said tha’.” He taps the screen, not looking up. “jus’ not like she could do anything.” 

Sans was scribbling on a pice of paper, observing the machine. “we’re a bunch of powerful monsta’s wit’ magic an’ she’s jus’ a puny human. wha’s she gonna do?” Sans keeps his eye lights on his moving pencil. “we all know what a determined human can do.” 

They all go still for a moment and the room is silent, feeling a little more stuffy than before. 

Pup keeps his head down, working on the stabilizer that was on the desk, but he was listening. Even his hands stoped when Sans made that comment.

“whateva’. like she could do anythin’.” Red seemed uncaring. “you’re just defending her cuz you wanna get your rocks off,” Stretch rolls his eye lights. “hey!” Red shouts. “i ‘aven’t had sex in like two mouths!” 

“an’ my brother calls me a dog,” Pup mumbles, making Stretch snort, Sans try’s to hold back snickers. “shudup, dog bone!” Red bristles, angry blush spreading over his cheeks. 

After the school girl like giggles die down, Sans speaks up in a more serious tone. “we don’t know what she’ll do, just like we didn’t know when the kid came through the first time, or like we didn’t know the machine would do this.” Sans gestures with his pencil around the room. “but here we are.” 

The room gains the stuffy silence once more. 

“we don’t know anything about this world, or the people in it. we’re on thin ice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are really starting to come together now. 
> 
> Sorry this one is short, just wasn’t sure what else to add. (And I really wanted to end it on that big knowledge bomb.)


	5. Flightless Rat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting to see a pattern with Rats in the chapter titles... Maybe I’ll make it a thing.
> 
> Anyway, here’s another chapter. Enjoy!
> 
> And wash your fuckin’ hands.

You wake up with a gasp. You shoot up straight, a blanket falling and pooling at your waist. You don’t remember what your dream was, but it left a tingling burn down your spine. Your eyes scan over the dim room while you let out short breaths. The hair on the back of your neck was standing on end, and sweat beading on your brow. 

You notice the living room is empty, leaving you alone. The lights are off in here, but there’s a small amount of light filtering in through the doorway to the dining room, leaving the room dim. You look down to the dark navy blanket laid over you. You run your finger tips over the soft fabric. You must have fallen asleep during the movie marathon. 

You’re briefly thankful they didn’t kill you in your sleep, but instead gave you a blanket. You’re not sure who did it but are thankful nonetheless. 

You swing your legs off the couch to let your toes connect with the floor. You tug the blanket off your lap to stand. You needed water. So you creep across the floor towards the dimly lit dining room. Rubbing the drowsiness from your eyes, you walk in. But stop dead in your tracks when your hand drops to your side and you see Sans. 

He’s sitting at the head of the table with a coffee cup in his hands, resting on the grained wood. He had shed the blue jacket for a t-shirt that said ‘I need some space’ with little stars and planets decorating it. His dim eye lights are trained on you. 

“Oh, hi,” you breath softly. He just sips his drink. When he brings the cup back to the table with a small clunk, he stars deeply into the mug. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were in here. I was just going uh, to get some...” you start to trail off at his distant look. You swallow. His eye lights land back on you. “...Water,” you finish quietly. His gaze falls back to the drink in his hands. 

Okayyyy, you think as you slowly make your way to the kitchen. You grab a cup from the drying rack and find that the sink works much like the shower so you were practically a professional at this weird indoor water source now. 

You sip the room temperature water (you haven’t exactly figured out how to control the temperature of the water that comes out) and let out a sigh from your nose. You’d be a fish if you could, water was just comforting. 

You make your way back to the dining room, glass in hand. And as you’re passing Sans to go back to the couch and sit there in silence for the next however many hours there are left in the night but hear Sans speak out. “sit.” 

You stop in front of the doorway cringing, shoulders hunched. You crane your neck to look back at him. You point to the living room. “I was actually going t-“ ”sit,” he stresses firmly. 

You’ve heard that kind of voice before. That’s the voice Father used when he meant business. That’s the voice that you don’t trifle with. You hated it, but you were raised to respect men over all. And as he spoke, your body acted on it’s own. 

“Yes, sir,” you say, soft and quick, just as you were supposed to. You slid into the chair at his side with your eyes downcast. So you don’t see Sans’ surprised and confused look. He shakes it off in no time though. 

“ya see, buddy,” he starts and you keep your eyes down. “we’re all a big happy family here, an’ i can’t have some human,” he practically spits the word out like it’s poison in his mouth. “messing that up for us.” He angles himself to face you better. “you understand?” You nod mutely. “look at me.” Your eyes jerk up to meet his. 

“if you hurt any of them, especially my brother,” his eye lights go out and his smile goes sinister like when you first met him. “you’ll be dead before you can even beg for mercy.” 

You clench the glass in your hands. 

“understand?” You nod once. “Yes,” you croak out. 

“good.” He waves a hand towards the living room, eye lights coming back and landing on his mug. “you can go now.” At the word you swiftly jump up and speed walk to the couch. You sit and throw the blanket back over your legs. Silently watching the door way to the dining room, you take a gulp of water. 

You’ve been threatened with your life before, who hasn’t? But the way his face went so cold and dead, like a real skeleton, it chilled you to the bone. You want to leave, but you can’t leave without your book, and you can’t go get it since they’re still looking for you there. You need to wait a few days, until things die down, then you can backtrack to get it and move on. 

Maybe you would go to live in the mountains. There’s few to no people there. Or maybe the coast, it’s far away, hundreds of miles, but maybe that’s a good thing. Far away from everyone that’s ever known you. You glance to the dining room. 

Everyone. 

And you’ve always wanted to see the ocean. You hear that it’s a beautiful, magical place. Golden sand that warms your feet, blue waters that reach as far as the eye could see. You know the water is salty, Mumswell had a bottle with ocean water. People have said that there’s colorful fish that you couldn’t imagine exist.

You set your empty glass on the ground next to your feet. 

Your eyes are drawn to the golden light peaking through the curtains. You want to get up and watch the sun rise, but find your spot to comfortable. So instead you watch the sun slowly crawl further and further across the floor. 

You hear nearly silent steps descend the stairs, only hearing it because of small clicks of hard heals on the wood. You watch the hall and see Edge walk in, he pauses when his eye lights land on you. You stay quiet as he turns his nasal cavity up to you and continues to the kitchen. 

About a minute later you hear footsteps again, this time quiet thumps instead of clicks. Papyrus walks in, a bright smile on his scull. “GOOD MORNING, HUMAN.” You smile lightly and offer a shy wave. “Good morning.” 

He walks over and opens all the curtains, letting in the glowing light. “I AM GLAD THAT YOU DON’T SLEEP IN LATE LIKE MY LAZYBONES BROTHER. HOW DID YOU SLEEP? GOOD I HOPE?” You shift the blanket to cover more of your lap. “Oh, yes. And you?” He turns to you when all the curtains are open. “I SLEPT WELL ALSO! THANKS FOR ASKING.”

You hear soft clicking from the stairs again, only a quicker pace. Black strolls in silently, not even sparing the two of you a glance. You look up to Papyrus, an eye brow raised. “HE’S MOODY IN THE MORNING. WELL MORESO BEFORE COFFEE AT LEAST,” he whisper yells down to you. “Uh-huh,” you acknowledge slowly. He wasn’t the best at whispering. 

You hear rapid thumping from the stairs and then Blue comes through he doorway. “GOOD MORNING, HUMAN! GOOD MORNING, PAPYRUS!” You mumble a “Good morning,” back. “GOOD MORNING, BLUE!” 

Papyrus mentioned his brother sleeping in late, but you weren’t sure how anyone could sleep through mornings in this house. 

Blue and Papyrus start to conversant over the dreams they had the night prior. Apparently Blueberry dreamt of a hippo made of taffy that was chasing him. Papyrus said his dream was of him being the captain of a pirate ship on a ocean of chocolate milk. Their dreams were quite weird. 

Your eyes catch the movement of Blackberry walking through the living room and back up the stairs, a black coffee to his teeth and one that looked much lighter, probably mostly sugar and creamer, in the other hand. 

“WHAT DID YOU DREAM OF, HUMAN FRIEND?” Your eyes are drawn away from Black ascending the steps to Papyrus, the one to ask you the question. “Oh uh, I don’t remember.” It wasn’t a complete lie. You didn’t remember, not much anyway. Just flashes of ash swirling in the wind and white cloth covering the eyes of faceless onlookers. 

The three of you start to hear the clash of pans and the facet turn on in the kitchen. “OH! WE BETTER START HELPING WITH BREAKFAST!” Blue states, bright blue eye lights glancing to Papyrus. “RIGHT!” Papyrus exclaims, pointing a finger to the sky. Blue starts to turn to walk to the kitchen when Papyrus’ gaze is put on you. “IS THERE ANY FOOD YOU WOULD PERFER?” Blue turns back around. “OH, YES! IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD SPECIFICALLY LIKE FOR BREAKFAST?” You thought about it. You weren’t sure if they ate the same things as you, seeing as to the weird food they served you last night. 

“Uhm, I like meat? And bread, I guess.” It was vague, but true. “Fruit is nice too.” Those were breakfast foods. Not normal food for you but they seemed rich so it probably was for them. 

Now that you thought of that, should you expect them to give you the more gourmet types of food like meat, or fresh fruit? You were a guest after all, one that wasn’t paying for your stay and was a low ranking person. Just some random girl with no money or home to call your own. 

Blue’s eye lights brighten. “FRUIT IS A GREAT FOOD, ESPECIALLY FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY! I’LL MAKE SURE TO CUT SOME FRESH!” Papyrus seems pleased. “I CAN BAKE SOME BISCUITS.” 

“AND BACON!” “AND BACON!” They both exclaim in unison.

You let the smallest smile grace your lips. “That’d be lovely. Thank you,” you show your gratitude, bowing your head slightly. “BUT OF COURSE. WE’RE YOUR FRIENDS AFTER ALL!” Papyrus says, putting a proud hand to his chest. Blue gasps. “IS IT TURE?!” He turns his baby blue eye lights to you, hopeful. “ARE WE FRIENDS?!” He had his hands clasped together. 

It reminded you of praying...

You shake those thoughts away. “Uh, yeah. Sure, I guess.” 

Blue’s eyes turn to stars as he rushes to hug you. All your muscles go tense and your stance ridged. “THIS IS WONDERFUL! I’M SO EXCITED! ANOTHER FRIEND TO MY EVER GROWING LIST!” Wrapped in his tight embrace, you push him slightly. “Ok, please let go,” you say tightly. “OH!” He lets go and steps back. “SORRY, FRIEND!” You step back as well. “It’s alright, I’m just not too... keen on touching.” 

You flinch when a large thump comes from upstairs. Papyrus and Blue just look up to the ceiling. “MUTT! I SWEAR TO THE STARS, I WILL BREAK YOUR KNEECAPS, DON’T THINK I WON’T!” 

With wide eyes you look to Papyrus and Blueberry questioningly. “BLACK IS PROBABLY HAVING TROUBLE GETTING HIS BROTHER UP.” Papyrus shrugs. “WE ALL HAVE THAT PROBLEM WITH OUR BROTHERS!” Blue huffs, hands on his hips. 

“DON’T YOU DARE PUN AT ME!” 

You watch the ceiling. “What was that thump?” “PROBABLY BLACK PULLING HIM OUT OF BED,” Blue says. “Oh,” you mumble, eyes still on the ceiling. “WELL, WE BETTER GO GET BREAKFAST READY,” Papyrus states, walking to the kitchen, Blue following shortly after. “YOU CAN STAY HERE, OR COME WITH US IF YOU LIKE.” You shuffle your feet. “Ok. I’ll be here.” 

They both disappear into the dining room and you’re alone once more. With nothing better to do, you sit on the couch, waiting for someone to fetch you or to be called somewhere. You weren’t sure what to do on your own, so you twiddled your thumbs. 

A couple minutes later, you heard the fast clicking on the stairs again and Black steps in, Pup right behind him. Black stops to stand before you. He drinks the last bit of his coffee then hands it back to Pup over his shoulder. Pup takes it and it just disappears from his claws. You watch his hand, even as it joins his other hand in holding his own mug. 

“PET.” Black brings your attention to him. 

“(Y/n).” You mumble quietly. 

He continues as if you said nothing at all. “I WILL SHOW YOU AROUND THE HOUSE SO YOU CAN BE ACQUAINTED WITH YOUR NEW HOME.” You glance to the side awkwardly. “I think I’m only staying here for a little while.” “HUSH! YOU SHOULD THANK ME FOR BEING SO KIND AS TO SHOW YOU AROUND, FOR I HAVE MUCH BETTER THINGS TO DO.” You stare at him for a moment, flabbergasted. “Thank you...?” 

He smiles devilishly. “VERY GOOD.” He turns and Pup waits a few moments to watch you with lazy eye lights. “LET’S GO.” With that Pup follows, and with a little hesitance, you do too. 

Pup walks right behind Black’s right shoulder and you trail slightly behind them both. Black keeps his head held high and looking forward, his hands folded neatly behind his back. “YOU’VE ALREADY SEEN THE LIVING ROOM, KITCHEN AND DINING ROOM,” he says, nonchalantly. “SO WE’LL GO ABOUT THE REST OF GROUND FLOOR.” 

He gestures to the bathroom. “YOU KNOW WHAT’S THERE.” He points to another door. “THAT’S A SUPPLY CLOSET.” You three arrive at the end of the hall with one door left. Blackberry opens the door, letting himself and his brother in. “AND THE LIBRARY.” As you walk through the door, your eyes widen, the breath leaving you. 

The library is huge, high ceilings and ladders to reach the higher shelves. The full wall windows let in more than enough natural light and a perfect view of the scenic forest. There was a large table in the middle of the room with chairs for you to sit at and read, as well as other comfy looking chairs scattered around. And the books.

The books!

There were so many books on the walks, reaching all the way to the ceiling. There were bright and colorful books, ones that looked older than you, books so thick it would probably take forever to read it all. It was incredible! The amount of sheer 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 that must be in this room! 

Was there anything on spells? Or animals? What about ecosystems? What you would give to read something written on Monster history, or biology. You wonder if there was anything on the ‘television’ or how it worked. 

“It’s amazing.” You breath out in awe, not taking your eyes off the books. “I SUPPOSE IT’S ADEQUATE.” You scoff. “Adequate? It’s incredible!” You turn to the both of them. “How many books are there? Are they sorted by category? What kind of category’s are there? Am I allowed to read any?” You were spit firing questions in your excitement. 

“ONE QUESTION AT A TIME!” Black says, annoyed. You wring you hands. “Sorry, I’ve just never seen a library this incredible before,” you say, looking around further. 

Black seems proud. “OF COURSE. IT MAKES SINCE THAT WE HAVE THE BEST LIBRARY. ONLY THE BEST FOR THE MALEVOLENT BLACK!” He elbows his brother. “ISN’T THAT RIGHT, MUTT?” Pup doesn’t even move an inch, even though it looked like Black was pretty powerful with his hit. “of course, m’lord.” 

You look back at them. “May I?” You question, gesturing to the books. A pleased grin spreads over Black’s face. “YOU MAY.” He gains a threatening glint in his eye lights. “JUST MAKE IT QUICK!” You viciously nod, a toothy smile on your lips. 

You speed walk over to a shelf. Walking past the shelves, you let your fingers brush over the spines of the books. You pass fiction, then historical fiction, science fiction, you weren’t sure what that was, maybe something fictional on the television. You keep walking on.

One book catches your eye. 

Phenomenons Of Nature Explained. 

You pull the book off the shelf and flip through the thick paper. 

Table Of Contents.

Chapter One: Weather phenomenons. Storms and Unreal events from the sky explained in scientific detail

Chapter Two: Animal phenomenons. Animals with Fictional like anatomy and abilities.

Chapter Three: Plant life phenomenons. Plants that look like they’re from an alien planet with phenomenal abilities.

You flip to a random page. At the top it reads: Bats, animals that can fly without full site. You skim down a couple paragraphs. 

Echolocation is the use of sound waves and echoes to determine where objects are in space. Bats use echolocation to navigate and find food in the dark. To echolocate, bats send out sound waves from the mouth or nose. When the sound waves hit an object they produce echoes. The echo bounces off the object and returns to the bats' ears. Bats listen to the echoes to figure out where the object is, how big it is, and its shape.

Using echolocation, bats can detect objects as thin as a human hair in complete darkness. Echolocation allows bats to find insects the size of mosquitoes, which many bats like to eat. Bats aren't blind, but they can use echolocation to find their way around very quickly in total darkness. 

Your eyes are ripped from the paper when you see Black walk past you towards the door in your peripheral. “WE HAVEN’T GOT ALL DAY, LET’S MOVE ON.” Sadly, you start to put the book back on the shelf, but the book is taken from your hand from behind you. Pup lifts the book over your head and as he walks past you, he pushes it to your chest, keeping his gaze forward on his brother. 

You grasp the book to your chest with wide eyes. “Does this mean I can barrow it?” You ask Pup hopefully. He looks back at you with those bored eye lights for a moment, then he turns to Black and clears his throat. 

Black turns to the two of you. “HM? WHAT?” Pup jerks his head towards you. You glance at Pup then look to Black’s inpatient look. “M-may I borrow it? Just long enough to read it. I’ll put it back as soon as I’m done with it, in perfect condition, of course.” He seems to mull it over for a moment, a finger on his chin. “I SUPPOSE YOU’VE BEEN GOOD. I’LL ALLOW IT, JUST SEE TO THAT IT’S PUT BACK.” 

A huge smile spreads over your mouth and you grip the book tightly to your chest. “I will! Thank you!” Black seems taken aback, freezing with a, barley noticeable plum color dusting over his cheeks. He mentally shakes himself, the color disappearing. “WHATEVER! LET’S GO ALREADY!” He shouts, stomping out of the library, Pup following shortly after. 

You glance down to the book in your hands, slowly following after them. 

They lead you out the hallway and up the stairs. At the top of the steps, there was another large hall with many doors all the way down. “SINCE YOU LOVE BOOKS SO MUCH, I ASSUME YOU CAN READ.” He points to the different names on the doors. 

First was Sans in messy blue hand writing, across from that door was Papyrus’ room, his name written in all caps and in bright orange. Next to Papyrus’ room was Blue’s, his was in all caps in a sky blue. Made sense.

Across from Blue was Stretch’s room, messy hand writing and all lower case like Sans’, only in orange, a shade or two darker than Papyrus’. Next was Red’s room, his hand writing the worst, and of course, in a red. Edge’s room was right across Red’s, Edge was written in crimson, the E was in cursive. 

Black stoped in front of his room. His was written in a dark plum and across from his was Pup’s written in a rusty orange. “YOU ARE NOT TO GO IN TO ANY OF OUR ROOMS WITHOUT PERMISSION, UNDERSTOOD?” You nod. “GOOD. LET’S MOVE ON.” 

He walks further down the hall with Pup right behind him. You see two more doors without names on them. “Who’s rooms are these?” Black glances back at you. “GUEST ROOMS IN CASE ANY MORE COUSINS DROP IN.” You speed walk to catch up with them, up more stairs. 

“You have even more cousins?” You ask perplexed. Just how many can people have? Maybe Monster family’s were just bigger. “YES. ANOTHER HOUSE FULL, BUT THEY’RE NO WHERE NEAR HERE.” He chuckles. “VERY FAR AWAY.” 

You three reach the top of the steps. “Oh.” You clutch the book closer to your chest. You felt very out of place here. Very out of place in theses clothes, on these floors, under this roof and behind these walls. 

You feel a pull. Something telling you that you aren’t supposed to be here. A scratch at the back of YoUR bRaiN, whispering that you should be somewhere else.

“WELL?” You snap out of your thoughts to see Black looking at you with a irritated look. “ARE YOU COMING?” He and Pup were a few feet ahead of you. “Right. Sorry.” You quickly follow after them. 

What were you thinking about again?

“IN HERE IS THE GAME ROOM AND MINI BAR,” he opens a door that shows a large room with a pool table, a mini bar against the left wall and a dart bored on the far right. You don’t get a long look as he closes the door. “IN THERE IS ALL STORAGE,” he nods his head to a door on the other side of the hall. He stops at the end of the hall to the last door and stops to turn around and face you. “AND THE MASTER BATHROOM.” 

You raise an eye brow. “You only have two bathrooms in the whole house for all of you?” As rich as they seemed to be, it looked like they should have more than that for all of them. “EACH BEDROOM HAS A BATHROOM OF IT’S OWN INSIDE.”

He briskly walks past you, his brother leisurely following behind. “WELL, THAT’S THE END OF THE TOUR. LET’S GO.” You three then go back down the sets of stairs and to the living room. You decided to keep the book with you. 

“BREAKFAST IS FINISHED!” You hear Blue holler from the kitchen. Now you have sit down with them all. Hopefully you’ll survive. 

Well, it’s time. 

Are you making this into a more dramatic deal than what it really was?

Hmm...

Nah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully breakfast with the boys will go well. 
> 
> I hope you liked it, I was a little stuck on where to go with this one. 
> 
> Please leave a comment to let me know what you think. Any suggestions, ideas, theories, constructive criticism or questions are always awesome to read. I honestly love getting them and they inspire me to write more. 
> 
> See you next time! 
> 
> IMPORTANT EDIT: I fixed the font thing, so if you want to go back to read it, it’s fixed now. Cuz those are kinda really important to the story lol.


	6. Stuck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little short but a chapter nonetheless. 
> 
> Also a small warning, this story is gonna start getting into some serious topics. I’ll tell you what about in the end notes because it’s spoilers for the chapter.

You slowly follow behind Pup into the dining room, book held close to your chest. Black sits down and his brother follows his action. With the tall skeleton out of your way, you see the table full of food. Your mouth waters at the sight of golden bread, steaming meats, juicy fruits, platers full of delicious foods. 

Papyrus comes in from the kitchen, in the middle of taking off an apron that says ‘don’t be upsetty, have some spaghetti’.

You had no clue what spaghetti was. 

“(Y/N)! TAKE A SEAT!” He points next to the chair he sat in last time. You quietly sit down with the book in your lap. Sans eyes you. Looks like he was up, with dark circles under his eye sockets too. “find a book?” He raises a bone brow. “Uhm,” you look down. “Black said I could borrow it. Is that ok? I’ll put it back and take good care of it.” Papyrus sits down next to you. “OF COURSE IT’S OK! READING IS A GOOD PRACTICE.” You nod, agreeing with Papyrus. But you look back to Sans. He seemed like the head of the house, if how he talked to you was anything to go by.

He looks over your face for a split second. “yeah, sure.” He smiles a tired smile at his brother. 

Blue comes in with a tired Stretch trailing behind him. “AW. I SEE YOU ALREADY HAVE A SEAT,” he comments to your spot at the table next to Papyrus. You give a shy nod. Were you supposed to move? Were woman only allowed at certain places at the table? Were woman even supposed to be at the table? Edge did comment on the fact that you were at the table. 

No, they haven’t told you to move so you won’t yet.

“RED!” You jump in your seat, knocking into the table and making silverware clash. Some of the skeletons give you different looks. Your head whips over to the kitchen where Edge was. He was yelling up the the ceiling. “GET DOWN HERE FOR BREAKFAST!” Your chest rises and falls with tiny panicked breaths. His sudden shout scared you to death. Maybe it was you weren’t used to his loud voice or you’re just jumpy. 

“fuck off!” You can hear Red’s muffled voice from the ceiling. Edge’s eyes darken. “SAY THAT AGAIN!” There’s silence for a moment. “YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES TO GET DOWN HERE! DON’T MAKE ME COME GET YOU!” There’s no answer. Edge huffs and retreats back into the kitchen. 

“ARE YOU ALRIGHT, HUMAN?” Blueberry draws your attention over to him. “Hm? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Just a little skittish is all.” You look down to your lap, slightly embarrassed. “YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE SCARED OF US,” Papyrus smiles down at you. Man, he was a lot taller than you. 

He thrusts his hand out to you, his pinkie extended. “WE WON’T HURT YOU, PINKIE PROMISE!” You stare at his offered hand. “Uhh, what?” You question, perplexed. “A PINKIE PROMISE! IT’S A SPECIAL PROMISE THAT CAN NEVER BE BROKEN. HERE,” He locks his pinkies together. “LIKE THIS! IT MEANS I CAN NEVER BREAK MY PROMISE.” 

Your gaze flickers in between his face and interlocked pinkies. “Oh.” It must be a Monster tradition. He offers his pinkie to you once again. You hesitate for a moment before locking your pinkies together. “Ok.” Surprisingly, you feel a little better about all of this. 

“Thanks,” you say softly as you bring your hand back to your lap. 

You feel a burning gaze on you, and when you glance to Sans, he’s glaring you down. You quickly look away. Jeez, he was scary. 

“heya, sweetheart.”

You lurch with a yelp as Red is suddenly in the previously empty chair next to you. He bursts into hysterical laughter at your reaction. “RED! DON’T SCARE THE HUMAN!” Blue scolds. 

Your hands hold the table in a vice grip, leaving marks with your nails. Calm down, you can’t be letting of any bursts of magic. Monsters can sense magic signatures just like any other magical entity. The only reason they haven’t sensed your magic yet is because you haven’t let any bubble to the surface. 

Unlike you, they always let off a magic signature that you could feel. But that was because they were always using it. They ARE it. They are magic. Your magic was embedded in your Soul, covered up by all your physical matter. As long as you don’t let any magic flare up, they won’t know. 

At least you think? You’re only going off of common Mage knowledge. And even then you don’t know much. 

Edge walks in with one final platter. “ALRIGHT! SHUT UP AND EAT.” He sits down in his chair and places the platter down. 

The boys didn’t need anything else to get them to start piling their plates. You watch silently as they grab food from the different platters from the middle of the table and put it on their own plate. 

Next to you, the majority of what Red gets is sausage, bacon and some hash browns that he covers in pepper. On your other side, Papyrus gets some Dino oatmeal and orange juice. You notice Sans is having bacon and eggs. Blue has fruits and pancakes. Stretch has French toast that he doused in honey. Pup seems to have decided on cereal. Blackberry has a fruit salad with a side of ham. And Edge picked an omelet with peppers and herbs cooked into it. 

You look around the table as everyone starts to eat. Should you start picking your food? 

“AREN’T YOU GOING TO EAT, HUMAN?” Blue looks up from his plate to you. “Uhm.” You fiddle with your fingers under the table. “Do woman eat last in your household?” Everyone gives you a look. “the fuck you talkin’ ‘bout?” Red asks with his mouth full. They seemed confused, so maybe it was different for Monsters. 

“Normally the men of the house eat first and woman and children last. At least in human culture.” Stretch shifts in his seat. “i don’t think it’s that way for humans either.” Stretch says and glances at Sans. Sans is watching you with a calculating eye. His face is watching and motionless. 

After a second, he drops the expression and smiles casually. “nah pal. monsters are different. men an’ woman are equal and can eat at the same time.” You raise your eyebrows. Equal? You never would’ve thought Monsters would be different in this way. 

“YES, SO FEEL FREE TO HAVE WHATEVER YOU LIKE!” Papyrus adds happily. You blink, looking over all the food. 

There’s just so much to choose from. “Any of it?” You ask, just to make sure. “OF COURSE!” You reach a hesitant hand out to the biscuits, you grab it, and take a bite. It’s good, so very good. Good in the way of taste, but the freeing feeling of eating while they do is something you can’t describe. You weren’t worried about this yesterday because you were so hungry, but this is a normal meal. There’s something in the pit of your stomach telling you this is wrong, this is a sin, but you shut that up.

You never did believe in all that crap, but you had to live by it. 

You take what looks best to you. You have some eggs and bacon, some fruit Blue made and some pastry with powdered sugar on top. It was all so good, you couldn’t think of anything but the incredible flavors. 

Sans glances over to Stretch and Red, he doesn’t bother with Pup, he knows he won’t look up. Red rolls his eyes and Stretch blinks, still eating. 

After Sans is done with his plate, he stands. “red, stretch, pup, mind talking for a sec?” You look up with your cheeks full and puffed up, chewing slowly. Sans only glances at you for a second. 

Eh, you know when to mind your own business. 

Red sighs deeply, rolling his eyes and standing up like it was taking the most energy out of him. “not gettin’ outta it, huh.” He reaches over the table to snatch some biscuits. He shoves one in his mouth and the other in his pocket. He walks away, leaving his plate and chair still pulled out. 

Stretch shrugs, picking up a bottle of honey and walking away. You notice his plate is somehow gone. Pup stays in his seat, uncaring. “I’M LEAVING SOON SO DO WHAT YOU WILL,” Black says, picking at his food. 

Pup, without standing, uses his long arms to reach over the table to take one of the pastries sat in front of you. He takes one, and while holding your gaze, takes a bite. You glance in between the pastry and his eye lights. He stands and walks away. 

Okay. That felt threatening somehow. 

It was just a weird exchange all together. 

“HUMAN!” Your attention lands on Blue. “Yes?” “WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME WITH US ON OUR MORNING RUN?” You cringe. You’ve been running for the past couple days, you didn’t want to run just for the sake of it. “NO WAY SHE IS COMING! I CAN BARELY TOLERATE YOU THREE!” Edge drops his fork down on the table angrily. 

You see Blue about to argue. “It’s fine. I’m not really up to it anyway.” Blue seems disappointed but leaves it there. 

“WE’LL BE BACK IN A COUPLE HOURS, FEEL FREE TO WATCH TV, OR READ!” Papyrus gestures to the book still in your lap. You nod. The four of them start to stand and gather plates and platers. 

Papyrus takes your empty plate with a smile. “O-oh, thanks.” Guess you still weren’t used to Monster culture. 

Before you know it, the table is clean and the skeletons are gone. You let out a little breath. You stand and push in your chair. You were going to the library. 

Upstairs on the third floor, a dart hits a bullseye with a small thud. 

“so we were right.” Stretch says bluntly. Pup steps back and Red takes his place, aiming his dart and taking his turn. “tch, lucky shot.” Sans, that was siting in a bean bag chair. “i don’t see any other reason she acts the way she does.” Sans sighs, rubbing a ruff hand over his head. 

“great,” Red starts. “not only are we in a new universe, but it’s a different time too.” Pup rolls his eye lights. He already knew they were in a earlier time. Against Sans’ rule, Pup went looking to see where they were, and he found a primitive village. He just didn’t know how things were, in between Monsters and humans. 

Sans thought maybe they could just stay quiet and not have to deal with any of the natives of this universe, but instead one found them. Well his brother found you and brought you back really. He talked to his brother, and he said they stayed close to their landing point (the house). But he scanned the area with a satellite and there wasn’t any largely populated places anywhere near them. 

If Sans was being honest to himself, he didn’t think they would be here this long. A week or two maybe, but two months? No, he thought they would be back to the Alpha time line by now, his universe. 

Everytime they got close and could fire up the machine, it would short circuit. They couldn’t get enough power to teleport the whole house back and whatever power they did get working through the machine, it would fry everything since there wasn’t a proper conduit. Nothing they had could control the amount of power they needed. 

It was a pure miracle they survived the accident that brought them and the house here. 

“so we can’t steal power from a city,” Stretch comments from the couch. “and we only make maybe 30 mega watts a day with 5 panels. how many do you think we need for the machine?” Sans closes his sockets for a second, humming. “50,000 mega watts is the most we’ve done and it hasn’t been enough.” 

Red grunts, throwing his dart. “and anythin’ over that fried it all.” That was another factor, not only could they not get enough power, but even if they had it, they couldn’t control it. “we can’t collect that kinda power with our panels and we couldn’t store it either.” 

So, they couldn’t get enough power from the panels without waiting forever and they still need power to the house. And even if they manage to collect all that power, they can’t store it safely with what they have. And if they could even get the power they need, they need some kind of magical conduit that could regulate it right. 

So they were at an impasse. 

At this point they were working with trial and error, doing their best to better what they could. But it just wasn’t enough. 

They were stuck. Stuck in a world without the resources they need. Stuck with their counterparts. Stuck with a weird human. 

Just stuck. 

In the library, your knowledge was expanding immensely. 

You were learning things about the world you always just ruled out as magic, has a reason and explanation. Rain? Everyone says it was just a gift from God. Nope, water went through a cycle. All storms had a scientific explanation. It made more since then God punishing the land and people on it. 

You learned about electricity in one book and it taught how the tv works. It was a little hard to grasp but you were actually getting it. Monsters had so much figured out! 

That’s what you thought at least. As you read book after book, you thought Monsters were the only modern ones. You couldn’t have known they were from a world completely different from your own, one in the future. So you just thought Monsters were advanced. 

Maybe you should’ve questioned it all more, but all you were focused on was the books you’ve surrounded yourself with. 

But then you got stuck on one book. It was about the best cities to visit and the history behind them. The pictures showed huge crowds of people, humans, and skyscrapers, cities lit up in bright lights. 

Was this a real place? The book talked like it was real and normal, but you’ve never seen anything of the sort. What was going on with these Monsters and their technology? Was it theirs alone? 

Your eyes scan over the pictures of crowds, humans dressed in modern clothing like the skeletons. There was definitely something deeper going on here. 

You slide the book away from you. 

Something you should stay out of. 

Someone once told you, you shouldn’t stick your nose where it could get pinched. Or where it could get stuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so reader is from a different time so things are different. Things with how woman are treated in this time may be triggering to some and it will get worse farther into the story. 
> 
> There will be better warnings before each chapter but I want to warn you about it here and now. 
> 
> There’s also going to be some fucked up shit with cult and religious stuff. 
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter! See ya!

**Author's Note:**

> Any suggestions or constructive criticism is always appreciated. I always love hearing from you guys. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, hope you liked it. See ya later!
> 
> Tumblr: https://novathenovsss.tumblr.com/


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